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It's a love hate thing. I use unions all the time on water service line repairs for poly lines and sometimes on point of connections for irrigation systems.

But for valves.. nah- some may say different.

It's pretty seldom for me to see a union and actually be able to utilize them for a repair, in some cases you have to screw the threads onto the new valve/ unit to the exact position of the old one to get the union tight with no leaks.. One thing is for me in the repair world is there are many different styles/brands of unions. Sometimes I can only utilize half of the existing union and for some reason the union I stock in my truck does not fit onto the existing- then I just cut it out all together.

You ask if you "should" install unions. It's basically a personal preference. Some guys on here will tell you to use unions. Some wont. Myself I never use a union unless it's my only option. I don't like them. They can be hard to work with. They can leak. Leaking is my pet peeve. Sometimes they crack.

If the valves are above ground there's no need for a union. Simply cut the pipe and reglue. If the union's in a box they can be very difficult to work with. You might have to dig up the box anyway. Just cut and glue is my vote.

So whatever you want to do is fine. Using unions isn't "incorrect".

I prefer to rebuild a valve instead of replacing unless the body has a problem.

Best way to install valves

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of putting in a system for my front lawn. Went through the process last year so I know what to do. Question is, when I make the valve mainfold should I use unions for each valve. Helps when I need to replace them down the road?